There They Crucified Him

(#69, Yermo/Hinkley/Dagget, 1946; Imperial, 1962)

Read Luke 23:33-38.

w   The oldest fact of nature, the inmost fact of society, the greatest fact of Christianity meet and are one on Calvary. (Dr. Hugh McMillan)

w   The Cross is the pivotal center of all God's dealings with the world.

w   The Cross is the determining factor of the history of the world and the destiny of mankind.

w   He who misses the Cross misses the heart of the Gospel.  If there were no Cross we would have no Eternal life, no blessed hope, no spiritual blessings, no victory.

The Necessity of Christ's Death.

ƒ    Christ announced often His purpose in coming to the world.  That purpose (saving the lost, Mark 10:45) demanded the cross, as did the prophecies of the Old Testament.

ƒ    Like the dying corn of wheat (John 12:24) Christ could bear no fruit unless He die.

ƒ    In God's plan and will, and because of man's need, the Son of Man must be lifted up (John 3:14).

The Nature of Christ's Death.

ƒ    It was vicarious (substitutionary).  Christ did not die for Himself but

w   for the life of the world (John 6:51). 

w   for us all (Rom. 8:32). 

w   for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18).

ƒ    It was voluntary.  Not even Satan could take His life from Him.  He gave it up of His own accord (John 10:17-18; Mt. 27:50).

ƒ    It was sacrificial.  "He poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12).  He truly suffered on the Cross (Mt. 27:46).

The Effect of Christ's Death.

ƒ    The believer's salvation (1 Thess. 5:10; 1 Peter 2:24).

ƒ    The believer's acceptance by God (Rom. 5:1; 2 Cor. 5:19).

ƒ    The believer's presence with God in the holiest.  The veil was torn from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51).

Are we among those around the cross who mock and spit in the face of Jesus? or with the Centurion who said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"